Is There No Hope For 'Sinking' Greece?

By Nurit Greenger    

'We are in the direction of Germany of 30 years; half of Greek society does not believe in democratic values any more..." says Greek Nikolas Marandzidis, a professor of Political History at the University of Macedonia, Greece. Mr. Marandzidis, is one of Greece's intellectuals. He is shocked by the rapid rise of extremists, particularly right-wing neo-Nazis.

In an interview with the Globe, the professor did not mince words: "Greece is in the way of a Weimar Republic, established in Germany after World War I in the midst of a severe economic crisis which led to the rise in 1933, the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler."

Greek Extremists Gaining Popularity

Mr. Marandzidis said that the Greek extremists have now more than 7% of votes in parliamentary elections, the Golden Dawn neo-Nazi party.

How can a country that was the birthplace of democracy arrive at the current situation, with the success of a right-wing Nazi party in the elections?

In Mr. Marandzidis's opinion, the first reason is the deep economic crisis that has overwhelmed the country. Another reason is the doubts of the legitimacy of the political system. He claims that already a decade ago the Greek nation saw a great part of society challenging the political elites who are seen as corrupt and incompetent. The third reason is the existence of this language nationalists, populists and demagogues use, which breaks the barrier of the extreme right. This language, blames Western banks, Germany and the capitalists, and thus led the society to vote for a Nazi party.

Adding all the other extremist parties and demagogues, 7% of the vote for right-wing rise to between 20% and 25%.

Leaving Home

The result, Constantin Costopoulos, a Greek biologist with two doctorates, sold everything he had in Greece and moved to Brazil. He thought it would be best to bet on an emerging market, such as Brazil. At 53 years, the biologist, an expert on fish farming in Greece and known in several countries, has just become an exile from the crisis, which is gathering strength. When Mr. Costopoulos boarded a plane to Brasilia, he took with him projects to make Brazil a major exporter of fish. His farewell words were, Greece is over, there is no hope in this country.

Mr. Costopoulos is not only a world-renowned biologist, he is also a man of property. And therefore in Greece they are astonished that he is selling everything. Meaning, four apartments in Athens. He had not yet decided whether to sell his home in the idyllic island of Santorini, one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in Greece. His wife, an architect, will wait for him to settle in Brazil and then close the office and the bags, and she will be off to Brazil as well.

The biologist has had seven companies in Greece, which mainly exported, globally, his great knowledge in aquaculture companies' operations. With Greece sinking, he thought it would be best to bet on emerging markets but excluded China, Russia and India, and chose Brazil. Late last year, Mr. Costopoulos traveled in Brazil for two months to choose the place where he could apply his technology. He returned to Greece, convinced that Brazil, which imports fish, has enormous potential to become one of the largest producers and exporters of tropical species in the world.

Upon arrival in Brazil, to establish a home, Mr. Costopoulos initiated a series of meetings with government officials to present his project and thus started a new life.

In the meantime, the distrusted Greek leaders have met, without achieving a coalition. This triggered Alexis Tsipras, a star politician in Greece's extreme left-wing political party to say, "austerity in Europe political impasse further undermines the spirit of Greece; we are in the direction of Germany of 1930s."

And in France, the new president, François Hollande in planning to rob the rich and give their money to the poor, and so the rich have their own plan, they are leaving France in droves to take residency across the border in the French speaking Swiss cantons, i.e. the area of the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura as well as the French-speaking parts of the cantons of Bern, Valais, and Fribourg.

Equal And Opposite Reaction

So what does this all mean to the man in the European street?
We need to wonder if the illuminati understand that extremism for so called liberal causes will, invariably and inevitably result in a reaction of equal power in the opposite direction.
Apparently neither side does, so are we bound to face repeated cycles of the same old same of the 20th Century with two World Wars that Europe has brought about?

People have had their fill of being used by the political "elites". Greece is an example where their policies have led to the collapse of the country. Greece is in terrible danger and so are, on a slight lesser degree, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and France, while Italy is barely better.

In the United States, if Obama remains the president, his country will join the club of the failing economies of Europe. And then, the world will no long have the American exceptional leader nation and it will keep on tumbling in the black hole it has dug for itself.

Nurit Greenger sees Israel and the United States equally, as the last two forts of true democratic freedom and since 2006, has been writing about events in these two countries. Contact her by writing to nurit.4.nuritg@gmail.com Read more stories by Nurit Greenger.